Volkswagen or Hoaxwagen? Company Cheats on Diesel Emission Tests

A Federal Judge, the Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission (FTC),
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California state legislators
announced that the German automaker Volkswagen AG (VW) will pay
upwards of $15.3 billion in the largest automotive buyback ever after the company was found to be cheating on U.S. diesel emission tests.
The money will go to buyback or fix affected VW vehicles, to fund clean
fuel initiatives, and will settle claims brought by vehicle owners as
well as federal and state regulators. Criminal charges against VW or its
executives are still possible.

In fall 2015, VW admitted to installing a secret
“defeat device” on its U.S. vehicles which allowed them to emit up to 40 times the amount
of pollution deemed permissible by the government. “Volkswagen turned
nearly half a million American drivers into unwitting accomplices in an
unprecedented assault on our environment,” said Deputy U.S. General
Attorney Sally Yates.

Elizabeth Cabraser, lead counsel for the class of VW vehicle owners, stated
that there were more than 500 class actions filed against the company
for its illegal and corrupt behavior. The Law firm of Spangenberg, Shibley
and Liber LLP filed several class actions on behalf of Ohio, Kentucky,
and Florida purchasers of these cars and those cases were consolidated
in the settled case. According to Fortune Magazine, VW spent seven years
creating advertisements in the print, media, and even in Super Bowl commercials
promoting the company’s supposedly eco-friendly practices. Indeed,
the VW Jetta TDI was awarded
“Green Car of the Year” for its proclaimed “groundbreaking clean diesel” engine (the
award has since been retracted).

In addition to the $15.3 billion dollar price tag, the company will undoubtedly
spend billions more as they attempt to mend their sullied reputation.
In a breakdown of the settlement, the company will mandate nearly $10
billion for buybacks, $2.7 billion towards building environmentally-friendly
infrastructures and $2 billion towards the development of programs to
reduce gas emissions. In a separate settlement, VW will also pay 600 million
to 44 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. In addition
to the sums which VW will pay in this settlement, VW will be responsible
for attorney fees incurred by the aggrieved parties.

For more information on the Volkswagen scandal, including a list of impacted
vehicles, visit the Consumer Reports website
here.